Quality Assessment of FY-4A Lightning Data in Inland China

摘要

The Lightning Mapping Imager(LMI)equipped on the FY-4 A(Feng Yun-4 A)geostationary satellite achieves lightning positioning through optical imaging and has the advantages of high temporal resolution,high stability,and continuous observation.In this study,FY-4 A LMI lightning event,group and flash data from April to August 2018 are selected,and their quality are assessed through qualitative and quantitative comparison with the ground-based Advanced Time of Arrival and Direction system(ADTD)lightning observation network data and the American International Space Station(ISS)lightning imaging sensor(LIS)data.The results show that the spatial distributions of FY-4 A lightning are consistent with those of the ground-based ADTD and ISS LIS.The temporal variation in FY-4 A lightning group frequency is consistent with that of ADTD stroke,which reflects that FY-4 A LMI can capture the lightning occurrence in inland China.Quantitative statistics show that the consistency rate of FY-4 A LMI and ISS LIS events is relatively high but their consistency rate is lower in terms of lightning group and flash data.Compared with the lightning observations by the ISS LIS and the ground-based ADTD,FY-4 A LMI reports fewer lightning events in the Tibetan Plateau.The application of Tibetan Plateau lightning data requires further processing and consideration.